Improvement in loom for weaving irregttlar fabrics



thrilled mes @anni vdjj'rie.

CHARLES HEETONSTALL, 0E rEovIDENoEEHoDE ISLAND, AssreNoE To oEvILLErEcKHAM, TEUsTEE, AND oEvmLE rEcKHAM, TRUSTEE, ASSIGNOE To o-HEPTONSTALL, PARDON M. STONE, AND JONATHAN BOYD, OFSAME PLACE.'

Leners Patent No. 92,722, zaad July 2o, 1869.

.The Schedule referred to in these Letters -Patent and making part 0fthe eamo.

To all 'whom it mayconcem:

Be it'known that I, CHARLES HEPToNsTALL, now

of thecity and county of Providence, in thel State of Rhode Island,formerly of Kirkburton, near Huddersfield, inthe county of York,England, have invented.

certain new and useful Improvements in Looms for Weaving; and I dohereby declare that the following speciication, taken in connection withthe drawings making a partlv of the same, is a full, clear, and exactdescription thereof.

Figure l is a side elevation, and

Figure 2 is'a front elevation of so much of a loom for weaving fabricsof irregular shape as is necessary to make the invention intelligible,

This invention relates particularly to looms for weaving corsets orstays, and other uneven'fabrics, for improvements in which EnglishLetters Patent were granted to me, dated respectively the 22d day ofJune, A. D. 1864, No. 1,556, and 6th of July A. D. 1866, No. 1,790, butis 'in`part applicable to ordinary looms for weaving even fabrics.

It isto be understood that in looms of this class several warp-beams areemployed, among which the warp is divided, the number of such beamsbeing'determined by the shape to be given to the particular article tobe woven in each case, and that the necessity for such plurality ofwarp-beams arises from the fact that the aggregated warp-threads aredivided into sections, which sections must be independent of each other,so that any one or more of them can be given ofi' by their beams,

.receive the filling from the shuttle, and the woven fabric be taken up,while the other sections of warp remain stationary.

It is also to'be understood that a jacquardattachment isn'ecessary to becombined with the mechanism, whichlets olf -thewarp from the beams, andtakes up the woven cloth, to govern the formation of allirregular-shaped fabrics.

In the drawings- A, fig. 1,`indicates a series of small yarn-beams, eachcontaining a supply of warp, and arranged in the suitable order requiredfor the particular article to be made, and supported upon a properframe-work, B, and each beam is provided with a ratchet-wheel, 0, intowhich a catch-lever, D, takes by gravitation, when at liberty to do so.V'

The warp-threads are conducted om the said yam-- bea-ms, over rails E,to and over the back beam of the loom G, thence, passing through thehealds or heddles, to the reed H; the cloth when woven being taken up byluted rollers, working in pairs, a pair being appropiiated to eachsection of warp-thread,'in the usual manner, and which has been fullyexplained in the specification of the English patents referred to.

-K indicates a series of weights, each one suspended by a loop orpulley, L, on one of the sections of warpthreads, that is, one weight tothe warp or each yambeam. To each weight is"attached a cord or chain, M,which is connected to the catch-lever D of the yarnbeams, from whichthat section of the warp comes, so that when the weight is raised, bythe taln'ng'up of the warp in weaving, the catch will be removed om theratchet-wheel, and a quantity of warp will be given oii'; and on theweight falling, by the letting oft` of more yarn, it will allow thecatch-lever vto again take .into the ratchet, and block the beam.

Springs may be used instead of weights for this piu*- -pose, but Iprefer weights, as eiiecting greater uniformity of tension than springs.

The catch-levers D unlock the yarn-'beams Where the eiiect ofthe take-upmotion is to raise the weights `K, by pulling along the warp. Thetake-up motion is in turn, controlled by the jacquard, and the. mannerin which the two are combined lis the further subject of my invention.

The luted rollers I and J, arrangedk in a series corresponding with thesections of Warp, take up..the cloth, as already stated.

Appropriate to each pair of iluted rollers is a worm, c, set upright insupports in front ofthe breast-beam, with which worm the teeth of thelower roller J engage.

At the foot of the worm-shaft is keyed a bevel-wheel,

l), which engages with a second bevel-gear wheel, c,`iigs.

l and 2, arranged upon a shaft below and parallel with the beastbeam. i

Upon the back of each wheel cis aratchet-wheel, d, and with the teethofthis ratchet a pawl,.e, engages.

These pawls are counterweighted, and are mounted upon fulcrum-pins,which project from the sides of levers N, hinged to the same transverseshaft upon which the bevel-wheels c are arranged.

Obviously, if a vibratory'movement'be given to the levers N, the pawlse, attached tothe same, will Work with the ratchet d, and the consequentrotation of the bevelled wheel c will cause the iluted taking-up rollerto be put into action.

So many only of the lut'edy take-up rollers are to act at any given timeas the jacquard allows. Provision must therefore be made to so combinethe jacquard with the levers N, controlling the operative pawls e, as toremove them beyond the influence ofthe mechanism, which -would otherwisekeep them in vibration.

To this end, it will be seen that there is a series of bars, o, (one toeach `lever N,) hinged at one end to a transverse rod, f, and attheother end, connected by strings with the jacquard. I

Each of these bars has upon its under side a projecting catch, g, whichcatch, unless the front end of the bar o, to which it belongs, israised, will engage with a pin upon the side of its fellow-lever N, andhold it beyond the infiuence of a vibrating rail, against which it wouldotherwiserest, and be worked b'y it.

The vibrating rail, which gives motion to the levers N, when the latterare not blocked up by the catches on the bars o, and which consequentlyworks the takeup rollers, is seen at P, fig. 2.

Itis attached, by arms h h, to therocking shaft Q, ywhich receivesmotion from an adjustable crank, fixed on the end of the revolving shaftR, by means of the connecting-rod R.

It is obvious, that as the rail P is constantly vibrating, it will worksuch only of the levers N as the jacquard permits to bear against itsface, and consequently operate the take-up rollers with which they arerespectively connected. The throw of the crank upon the shaft R can beregulated at pleasure, and this, in connection with the employment ofworm-gears as a means of communicat# ing movement to the take-uprollers, enables thev extent to which such take-up rollers can be moved,to be adjusted with the greatest nicety. n y y I Wish it to beunderstood, that in looms of my construction, under the English patentshereinbefore mentioned, I have applied weights to the warp, asa means ofobtaining uniform tension, but that the use of such weights incombination with catch-levers, taking into ratchets on the warp-beams,isa further improvement upon such looms. n

I have also, in the instances referred to, made use of a vibrating railin combination with levers carrying pawls, and working, by directaction, the take-up rollers, but which pawls were not combined with suchtake-up rollers by means of intermediate wormgears, so as to enable themovement of the takeaip rollers to be accurately adj usted,by adjustingthe throw `of the crank which operates the vibrating rail.

What I'claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, isj v 1. The combination, with take-up rollers I and J, and vibratingpawl-lcvers N, ofthe intermediate wonngears a, arranged and operatingsubstantially as described.`

2. ,Also the combination, 'substantially as specified,

'of the warp-Weighted let-off apparatus with the take-up apparatus,constructed and 'operating as described, whereby the two mechanisms aremade to work in more complete harmony with each other in the organizedloom. l

CHARLES HEPTONSTALL.. Witnesses:

A. W. HARRIS, CHARLES W. GREENE.

